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Andain
The Andain were demigods, meaning that they were the offspring of gods and mortal races, the latter of which mainly included humans, elves and dwarves. They had many abilities which were used for both destruction and protection, and could technically live forever unless they were slain in combat. They fought in a devastating conflict known as the War of the Andain, manipulated other races to their liking, and eventually perished in the Explosion which ended the Second Age after the betrayal of Kagetsu Aurelac de Maar Sul, the Dark Andain. History Origins When the Land of the Living was young, the gods populated it with various races and creatures. Eventually many gods grew fond of their creations, particularly the races of humans, elves and dwarves, and ended up getting intimate with them. These interactions resulted in the births of demigod children who became known as the Andain. Although the Andain would not die of old age, they could be slain, although their powers exceeded that of mortals. The couplings of two Andain always resulted in births of mortal children, however, so many Andain would outlast several centuries of descendants. Many Andain would choose a mortal spouse instead of one from their own. At least in one instance it was shown that an Andain could cast a spell of immortality on a mortal which would prevent them from dying of old age although this was done rarely as the Andain, most of whom respected the authority of their divine parents, didn't want to meddle with the order of things in the world. Each Andain was expected to go through a rite of passage of sorts which would deem them worthy enough for the great power they possessed. This included learning of and figuring out what were dubbed the Laws of the Andain, a set of cryptically phrased rules dictating the Andain way of life. Once an Andain fully understood the hidden meanings behind the seemingly ordinary phrases, they could wield their powers in full whether for good or evil. Many Andain also chose to learn shapeshifting magic, choosing a totem animal which was most natural to their personality. Younger Andain were warned of the folly of one of their own, Gafrielprincip, who had chosen more than one totem animal into which he shapeshifted, and which drove him to madness and eventual death. First Age War of the Andain :See: War of the Andain The god Mardük's Andain son Kagetsu Aurelac de Maar Sul became well loved among his peers for his wisdom and strength. He married a human woman named Marya Aurelac de Maar Sul and the couple, together with their Andain friends, founded a great city in Mardük's honor which was dubbed Maar Sul City, the capital of the Kingdom of Maar Sul. The founding of Maar Sul marked the beginning of the Maar Sul Genesis calendar and the beginning of recorded history, or the First Age. Kagetsu eventually began seeing the world as corrupt, however, and began openly defying the gods who he believed should lend their power to mortals in order to level the playing field and make everyone--god, Andain and mortal alike--equal. To achieve this end, he intended to destroy the world and remake it to better fit his vision. The gods did not tolerate Kagetsu's defiant actions, and ultimately the Andain were split into two factions: the renegades who supported Kagetsu, and the loyalists led by Taliesin, son of Cardia, who supported the gods. This devastating conflict became known as the War of the Andain. Thanks to the betrayal of Kagetsu's former supporter who would be known as Amaranth the Traitor, Taliesin and his elite forces managed to invade Kagetsu's flagship and ultimately injure him enough to seal him into a magic stone. Deprived of leadership, Kagetsu's followers dispersed, and Taliesin claimed the title of Lord of the Andain for himself. Subtle Guidance Taliesin's first order as the lord of his kin was for the Andain to disappear into the forests and no longer interfere with mortal affairs; in his view mortals would have to survive in the world by themselves and only gods could alter the world. Despite this non-interference policy the Andain did intervene in the affairs of mortals every now and then such as during the Chaos War when they secretly placed various weapons of power in dungeons for mortals to find in the Chaos War, hinted at the location of the floating continent of Alent during the Cardian War, and left clues to the Spell of Banishment during the Sydney Losstarot War. Some Andain, such as Belial, openly defied Taliesin and caused misery wherever they went despite the loyalists' attempts to end their rogue brethren's rampage for the greater good. Taliesin's strategy worked, however, and as centuries passed, Andain became the stuff of legend, and most races assumed they had been mere fairytales meant to scare children with. Second Age Return to Prominence During the Second Age's Manster Rebellion, the Andain Leon Alcibiates accidentally managed to set Kagetsu free from his prison by abusing one of the Laws of the Andain. Kagetsu's return became known soon enough, and his old followers flocked to him and rebuilt Maar Sul once more. Taliesin once again faced the seemingly inevitable conflict of another War of the Andain with Kagetsu's return. Due to his non-interference policy, however, Taliesin had to act through intermediaries such as various ambitious mortals to oppose Kagetsu subtly although he eventually chose to confront Kagetsu directly, which led to the two Andain lords wounding one another. Despite rising tension between the two Andain factions, they soon found themselves being forced to unite under one banner when the human warlock Arawn Losstarot had grown in power and began the Arawn Losstarot War. Arawn was deemed too dangerous to live after the destruction he left in his wake, and Taliesin and Kagetsu grudgingly agreed to work together with the Grand Alliance despite their animosities to defeat Arawn once and for all. Kagetsu faced Arawn in combat, and every living Andain lent their power for him to leech so that he could stand a chance against the warlock who by now had grown powerful by siphoning the powers of Mardük. Demise Kagetsu ended up betraying his allies in the end, however, by casting a spell which caused the Explosion and severed the link between gods and mortals. The spell allowed mortals a fraction of the godly powers, Innate Abilities, by siphoning the powers of the sacrificed Andain into them, but it also prevented any more Andain from being born into the world. Arawn, Kagetsu and all the other existing Andain perished in the Explosion, and the continents shifted as the world moved to the Third Age. The time of the Andain was over, and Kagetsu Earthshatterer had nearly succeeded in his ultimate goal: granting equality for all albeit with the extinction of his race. Legacy Although Andain had perished in the Explosion, an Andain called Leon Alcibiates and Taliesin were reincarnated into the new world centuries later as a revenant and a shade. Leon's undead existence in particular threatened magic itself when he managed to access his dormant Andain powers in a world where no Andain was meant to exist by using one of the Laws of the Andain. Leon later claimed a fully mortal body during the planting of the Silverbranch Tree during the Great War but lost all his Andain powers as a result. Taliesin also lost many of his magical powers after his rebirth as a shade; his existence being possible only because Leon had been summoned from the dead. In 1017 AE, the goddess Hivena found a loophole in the restrictions imposed on the coupling between gods and mortals by Kagetsu's spell. She abused the loophole by using Nesa Mikoto's Blood Fever as well as the Godslayer-caused Cataclysm as a catalyst to circumvent the rule and give birth to Nyanna Mikoto, who she claimed was the first Andain child born since the Explosion. Whether or not Nyanna is actually a true Andain with Andain-like powers or merely a mortal born of a god remains unknown although she has aged rapidly from an infant into a young girl and has shown some powers, mainly white magic, so much that some of the few people who know about her consider her a grave threat to the balance of the world. Appearance As an Andain was a result of a coupling between a god and a mortal, they could literally be from any race a god had slept with, although this mainly meant human, elven and dwarven Andain as there are no known records of gods having slept with other races in the years Andain were active in the world. Because of this, there was no unifying look or trait in Andain, and they were all individuals with distinct looks. Personality and Traits Each Andain was his or her own individual, and thus their personalities ranged from benevolent to downright murderous. Some saw themselves above other races, many others preferred to stay in hiding to not hurt anyone with their presence and to allow the weaker races to flourish. Many were devoted to the gods, particularly their parents, although there were cases where the demigods rebelled against their divine parents. Powers and Abilities Being demigods, even the weakest Andain were very powerful, assuming they could master the Laws of the Andain which each Andain had to figure out for themselves when they grew in power. An Andain was always more powerful when he or she assumed the totem animal form, but not all Andain mastered this ability. They could keep casting high level spells without wearing out, and their seemingly infinite lifepans which lasted over millennia allowed them to master several professions, growing to become powerful mages or warriors. Notable Andain *Kagetsu Aurelac de Maar Sul *Leon Alcibiates *Minerva Trymon *Taliesin See also *Explosion *God *Laws of the Andain *Races *War of the Andain * Category:First Age Category:Humanoids Category:Second Age